The Honorable Jonathan Jackson, an ex-state legislator and former gubernatorial assistant, is trying to puzzle out and understand one of those mind-boggling tragedies that occur from time to time in the course of U.S. public life an assassination. In this case, the victim was the man he worked for, Governor Richard N. Ellery. The anguish of this tragedy is compounded by the identity of the killer Jonathan Jackson s boyhood friend, a would-be Hollywood actor hung up on the dream of American success. The climactic action is set against the backdrop of a National Governors Conference in Los Angeles, a panorama of America s governing elite where governors and staff members, the media and entertainers have gathered for a final evening featuring an address by the president of the United States. This is also simultaneously the scene of the budding love story between Jackson and the lovely TV news anchor who would become his wife.

Here, in the guise of a novel, is a view of our political system from within from municipalities to counties to a state and its ties to Washington, D.C. Whether it s walking Main Street to get the votes or debating gun control issues in a crowded auditorium, the real side of politics and government in O. Murray Carr springs to life in an engrossing tale that dramatically mirrors the way our country works.